Illegal Trash Dumping – Don’t Mess With Houston County
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – It’s one of the most frustrating things to anyone who travels around Houston County. That pristine scene, with pine trees, open fields and a little county road. God’s country. You travel the backroads, windows down to take in the smells and sounds of nature. Scenes like these are why locals stay and tourists visit.
Then you see it. Trash. Old tires. Garbage.
It not only ruins the view, but for the property owners along those roads it can be a serious nuisance, since they are often the ones who have to clean it up.
A loose piece of trash flying off, unsecured from the back of a pick-up truck is one thing. Several trash bags left or worse – a pile of tires can be a whole other issue. Tires, especially, are being dumped in higher numbers over the last year, according to Houston County Commissioner Gene Stokes.
Stokes said it’s bad enough when people dump their trash, but tires are specifically difficult to get rid of, as they must be cut into pieces so they will not float to the surface of landfills. This is why they are dumped, in order to save the money of disposing of them properly.
The county takes the problem seriously, Stokes said, and works hard to catch people dumping illegally. Houston County Environmental Officer Delman Orme is constantly on the lookout for these dumpers, ready to investigate them and track them down.
Stokes said he remembers one case of a load of garbage dumped on a county road in his precinct, where he himself dug through the trash and found envelopes identifying the owner. When contacted, the owner of the garbage confirmed it was hers, but she had paid someone to haul it off and had proof. The people took her garbage away, alright, only to dump it somewhere else and save themselves the fees of getting rid of it at the Crockett transfer station.
The Messenger caught up with Stokes late in the evening working on an excavator, who agreed to take a moment to speak about the issue. He agreed, it seems you can’t travel down a county road these days without seeing at least one old tire thrown somewhere. He said if you pay someone to haul your trash, make sure they are reputable and even ask for a receipt to prove they took it to the transfer station before you pay them.
As in all law enforcement issues, “if you see something, say something.” Stokes said if you see people dumping or find trash on your road or property, contact the county or your nearest law enforcement office. The county has gone so far as to install cameras to catch habitual dumpers, and they take the issue seriously.
Even if you see a truck you don’t recognize filled with old tires, it is worth checking on, as they might be looking for a place to dump them. Stokes remembered one incident in the Crockett square, where he saw several tires right on the sidewalk. Not believing someone would have the audacity to dump tires right in downtown, he soon saw Orme chasing after the culprits. It turned out they lost the tires without knowing it and were happy to go back and get them. It doesn’t always turn out that way, though.
Houston County Attorney Daphne Session said depending on the circumstances and the weight, there could even be criminal charges, ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony.
As we travel down those picturesque and seemingly lonely county roads, make sure not to mess with Houston County and dump trash where you shouldn’t. You may not always see them, but county officials are serious about putting a stop to it and just might be watching you.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
